Hey, kids, remember 2007? Those were headier, more innocent times for all of us: Apple released the first iPhone, the final Harry Potter book closed out the saga, and the writers’ strike hit Hollywood. Were we ever so young?
It’s also the last time a Spider-Man movie was released, and Sony would like you to believe that five years is long enough for audiences to forget about ol’ Spider-what’s-his-name, the iconic Marvel superhero and the star of three blockbuster movies. Sony reboots the web-slinger’s movie franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man, starting from scratch with a new Spidey (The Social Network’s Andrew Garfield), a blonde love interest over a redhead (Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy), and a new approach to the familiar origins of the character.
Well, not entirely new. Anyone familiar with the previous version of this character is going to get a peculiar sense of déjà vu watching the first hour of Amazing. All the basics are there: radioactive spider, zero to hero, preventable tragedy, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Actually, that’s not strictly true: at no point does Peter’s doomed Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) utter those words, the basic thesis of 50 years of Spider-Man comics, at least not in that specific configuration. That the movie goes out of its way to sidestep its most anticipated and well-quoted line is indicative of its mission statement: This not your father’s Spider-Man from, you know, almost 10 whole years ago.
The whole movie has that disorienting effect. Peter Parker is still a brainy outcast doted on by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May (Sally Field), still burdened by the desire to help people and the guilt of his own failures. The details, however, differ just enough to let us know that the terrain of this world is uncharted: Peter, perhaps having gotten an injection of angst from the Twilight films, broods underneath his hoodie and pines for Gwen, a whip-smart hottie with a teeth-gnashing police captain for a dad (Denis Leary). The movie’s most obvious departure from its previous version is its emphasis on Peter’s parents, non-entities in both the comics and Sam Raimi movies, here used as a central mystery that drives Peter towards the corporate lab run by Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans, Anonymous). Connors knows the secret that turned Peter’s scientist parents into fugitives and seemingly killed them, but he’s not telling. He’s got his own problems, among them an experimental formula that restores his missing arm but turns him, Jekyll-and-Hyde-style, into a raging lizard monster in a lab coat.
Taken on its own terms apart from the difficult task of separating it from the three previous films, there’s a lot that The Amazing Spider-Man gets right, and even improves upon. Raimi’s trilogy had an earnest dopiness to it that the reboot eschews in favor of tone that’s not exactly edgy, but certainly more grounded. Gone are the dance numbers, the endless speeches, and the slapstick that eventually sank Raimi’s movies; in are uncertainty, cynicism, and the idea that there are very few satisfactory conclusions in life, so we should grab what joy we can when possible. The Amazing Spider-Man excels when it gets its relationships right. Peter’s a tortured guy, but he’s tortured because of what these people mean to him, and even in this more morose version, that basic tenet of the character comes through whether he’s yearning after Gwen or hesitantly lying to Aunt May about where he goes at night and why he’s covered in bruises when he’s done. It’s not all about the talking, however: It helps that the action is generally well-staged. The 3D is largely pointless unless you like CG glass flying at your eyes, but as a whole it’s fun to see Spidey beat up street toughs while doing some wise-cracking (another aspect that improves upon Raimi’s version).
Strangely, the movie’s major failing comes in its villain. Ifans, of the school of British actors who can sound sinister or sincere with just a tweak of his accent, isn’t the problem with Connors/The Lizard, a mainstay of the comics often played for tragic effect. There’s something muddled in his presentation here, exacerbated by some weak CG effects on The Lizard itself, a problem that distracts from some otherwise thrilling fights. Connors is a modern villain in that he’s meant to be sympathetic, misguided if anything, but his motives remain murkily defined even after a series of rambling villain-speeches. He hates humanity, or wants everyone to be lizards, or something, for some reason? Chalk it up to formula-induced madness. Factor in that his master plan, involving an obvious plot device awkwardly set up early in the film, mostly fizzles as a climax and The Lizard makes for a flat choice to kick off a new series of films.
It will be interesting ten years from now – which, as we’ve established, is practically a lifetime – to see how people view this iteration of the character without the immediacy of Raimi’s version to influence their perception. The Amazing Spider-Man isn’t enough of a slam-dunk to quite justify the revamp or trump the best moments of the previous movies, but Webb and company are clearly playing the long game here. (A mid-credits scene makes it clear that the mystery of Peter’s parents will live to tantalize another day.) Though far from a perfect reimagining, Webb and company keep the essential appeal of the character on display while moving purposefully, if occasionally misguidedly, forward. What they get right about Spider-Man and his world is intriguing enough to keep our attention, even if it’s hard to shake the feeling that we’ve been here before.
Rating: 3 Stars
Film: The Amazing Spider-Man
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Sally Field and Martin Sheen
Directed By: Marc Webb
Story By: James Vanderbilt
Screenplay By: James VanderbiltAlvin Sargent and Steve Kloves
Based On: the Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Produced By: Avi Arad, Laura Ziskin, and Matt Tolmach
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: Approximately 136 minutes
Website: http://theamazingspiderman.com/
Budget: $220,000,000
Genre: Action, Superhero
Release Date: July 3, 2012
